Band 5.5 IELTS Writing Task 1 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.5 · Cambridge IELTS 19 · 2026-10-08

IELTS Writing Task 1 question

You are a member of an International Students' club. The club is organising an event to celebrate popular food from around the world.

Write a letter to the event organiser, Luis. In your letter

• offer to make a popular dish from your country
• describe what this dish is
• explain why it should be included in the event

You do NOT need to write any addresses.

Begin your letter as follows:

Dear Luis,

Student answer (Band 5.5)

Dear Luis,

I am writing this letter to announce that our club is organising an event to celebrate famous cuisine around the world.

I would like to represent Dal Makhani in the event as a famous and delicious curry from India.Moreover, it is the dish which is loved by every single individual, vegetarian or non-vegetarian of our country.

This cuisine is sum of 3-4 different types os lentils,which is kept overnight soaked and cooked with tomato puree and several indian-spicies on low flame for couple of hours.Additionaly, it is served with freshly-made butter naan which helps to enhance its taste.

Dal Makhani is a vegetarian curry, which is a traditional dish of India.Furthermore, it is served in every part of the country in restaurants, hotels and also it is easily available and affordable cuisine

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You address the main purpose by offering Dal Makhani, describing its lentils and preparation, and explaining that it is a popular vegetarian dish from India. These details are relevant, but the reason for including it is only partly developed: saying it is served across the country and is affordable could be linked more clearly to how it would enrich an international food event. The response also does not quite meet the required minimum of 150 words, and the final sentence ends without a full stop, leaving the letter feeling unfinished. To strengthen the response, explain why guests would enjoy or learn from the dish, and add a suitable closing that completes your offer to help.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.0

The response has a basic progression: you introduce the event, offer a dish, describe its ingredients and serving style, and then give a reason for including it. Paragraph breaks help distinguish these points. However, the overall development is limited, and the final paragraph repeats that the dish is traditional and widely available without clearly building on the earlier description. Connectors such as “Moreover” and “Furthermore” are used, but the links between ideas sometimes feel mechanical. The letter also stops abruptly after “affordable cuisine.” Organise the final paragraph around a specific benefit to the event, and finish with a closing sentence and sign-off so the reader receives a complete, clearly sequenced letter.

Lexical Resource: Band 6.0

You use a relevant range of food-related vocabulary, including “lentils,” “tomato puree,” “low flame,” and “butter naan,” which helps make the dish understandable. Words such as “traditional” and “affordable” also support your explanation of its cultural and practical value. Some choices and spelling errors reduce precision, however: “represent Dal Makhani” is less natural than offering or preparing it, and “cuisine” is used where “dish” would be more accurate. There are also misspellings such as “spicies” and “Additionaly.” Aim for accurate collocations and check spelling carefully; for example, describe the dish as a “popular Indian curry” and say it is “served throughout the country.”

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 6.0

You attempt both simple and more complex sentence forms, including a relative clause in “which is loved by every single individual” and a description of how the lentils are prepared. The main meaning is generally clear, but some grammatical errors remain. For example, “This cuisine is sum of 3-4 different types” needs an article and a more suitable noun, while “which is kept overnight soaked and cooked” has an awkward passive construction. The sentence beginning “Dal Makhani is a vegetarian curry” also runs into the next sentence without appropriate spacing or punctuation. Practise forming clear clauses and checking articles, agreement, and sentence boundaries; these changes would make your explanations easier to follow.

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